Page 158 of Like A Moth To A Flame

“So that’s it?” she growled. “Some horrible racist that probably killed his daughter, let’s be fuckin’ real, gets to just leave town and, what, continue living his life?”

Sheriff Banner watched her, a look of understanding shadowing his face.

“I know,” he said, sighing. “I was mad too for a long time, but then I learned somethin’. Our anger isn’t going to bring her back, and it damn sure ain’t gonna make him sorry for what he did… if he did anything at all. All I know is he will get his punishment. Trust me on that.”

Amelia and I shared my bed that night. It was easier when Tommy wasn’t home and made us feel better. Duke lay in the doorway as he normally did, half in the room and half in the hallway, listening for any sounds that would need to be checked out. As per his nightly routine, more than once he would get up and patrol the house, returning a while later to his spot, overseeing both of us.

When I woke up the next morning, I was expecting Tommy to be downstairs, but by the time both Amelia and I got our bloated butts down the stairs, he was nowhere in sight.

Confused and slightly worried, Amelia and I searched the house. He should be home. Shift ended at six AM, and it was well after ten now. We called out his name, but there was no response. Sensing our unease, Duke followed closely behind us, his ears perked up and tail wagging anxiously.

As we walked through each room, we noticed that things were oddly quiet. The kitchen was untouched, with no signs that he had ever come home. The silence grew more unsettling with each passing moment.

Finally, we reached the living room and our eyes fell upon a note left on the coffee table. It was from Tommy—I’d recognize that spidery scrawl anywhere.

Got a call about an apartment building on fire between here and Topeka. It’s pretty bad. Everyone got called down. I love you, and I’ll call as soon as I can.

Stay safe.

Relieved yet still concerned, Amelia and I exchanged glances.

“Well, so much for date night,” Amelia said with a sigh, turning away from the table. “If Tommy got a call, so did Carl.”

Reaching into the pocket of her comfy sweats, she pulled out her phone, and after a second of scrolling, she pulled a face and looked up at me.

“That’s weird,” she said, looking around the house. There was something uneasy in her blue eyes, and it sent an icy chill up my spine when her free hand came down to clutch at her belly. “Carl’s at home waiting on me. How could Tommy—”

“Because Carl already pulled a double this week,” I said simply, shaking the thought from my mind.

“I guess,” Amelia grumbled, darkening her phone and looking up at me. “Still weird. Something doesn’t feel right.”

I waved her off and forced the thought from my head as I stepped through the foyer and made my way toward the kitchen. I was hungry, and I didn’t have the energy to jump to conclusions—I could barelyjumpat all.

“Do you want eggs?” I called to her, stepping up to the fridge and pulling it open. It was wonderfully cold against my hot, swollen ankles. “Or do eggs still make you puke?”

Amelia was quiet except for the shuffling footsteps that came up behind me. When I turned to look at her, she stood in the kitchen doorway, looking at me as if I had grown two heads.

“Look,” she said. “I know you’ve always been the calm and collected type, not one to freak out over small things. I mean, you had a stalker and didn’t even bat an eye. But this isn’t… weird to you?”

I sighed, snapping the fridge closed and turning to her with arms crossed.

“Is it odd to me that my first responder has to… respond? No. No, it isn’t.”

She stood there looking at me, and I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed by her reaction, or just so numb that it didn’t bother me. After all, I had dealt with not one, but two stalkers without, as she had said herself, batting an eye.

What was another day alone?

I was used to this by now. I knew what I was getting into, marrying a firefighter.

Tommy was working all he could to make sure he had time off for when the baby got here. This was nothing to sneeze at.

“I guess,” she said, but the look in her eyes told me that she still wasn’t on board. “Well, if you’re sure?”

“I am,” I said, giving her my best attempt at a smile. “Why don’t you get home and get ready for your date? I’ve got Duke, and my dad’s gun, and this new security system Tommy got for me.”

I motioned to the small plastic box fixed to the wall behind her, with its reassuring, tiny blinking red light.

“I’ll be fine.”

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